Contents tagged with Donbas

  • Media: Armed Forces of Ukraine gained control over the runway and the ruins of the Donetsk airport

    The Ukrainian military took full control of the runway and the outskirts of the Donetsk airport along the demarcation line in eastern Ukraine. They also installed the Ukrainian flag a few meters from the destroyed terminal, TSN news program reports.

    "The Ukrainian language on this side is heard everywhere, in commands, orders and conversations. And this annoys the separatists, who are positioned some hundreds of meters away, a lot, “ the report says.

    The Ukrainian military know when to open …

  • Separatist LPR introduces criminal liability for failure to pay social security tax

    Authorities of the so-called LPR (Luhansk People’s Republic) have introduced criminal liability for non-payment of unified social contribution to compulsory state insurance, also known as the Unified Social Tax or UST, reported the terrorist-controlled online-resource LIC.

    The corresponding decision was made by "the deputies of the People's Council of the LPR", adopting the so-called law “On Introducing Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of the LPR."

    The so-called legislative act amends " …

  • US representative for Ukraine Volker and Putin’s aide Surkov held talks in Belgrade

    Negotiations between Russian Presidential Assistant Vladislav Surkov and US State Department Special Representative for Ukraine Kurt Volker were constructive, RBC news agency reports quoting Surkov as saying.

    "We discussed the draft resolution of the UN on the Donbas proposed by Russia, and understanding was found on a number of positions. Most of which were recognized as surmountable," Surkov said.

    He added that both sides stressed the need to carry out the Minsk deals, with the Normandy …

  • Ukraine accuses Russian private military company Wagner of involvement in Donbas conflict

    The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) said that the Wagner Group, a Russian private military company, participated in conflicts in the Donbas in 2014, and subsequently in Syria.

    “An evidence base has been collected on the activity of Russian soldiers in the Donbas and in Syria, the activity of the Wagner Group. The campaign’s leader is Dmitry Utkin. This project makes it possible for the Kremlin to tell the international community that there are none of its soldiers there [in Eastern Ukraine],” …

  • Poroshenko: new law on the Donbas will allow Ukraine to receive Western weapons

    A bill on the reintegration of the Donbas, which was adopted on its first reading, will provide an additional argument for the provision of Western weapons to Kyiv, as stated in the message of Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko published on website of the presidential administration.

    "This [draft law] further strengthens the legal framework for the use of the Armed Forces, expands their capabilities in the region. This strengthens the arguments in favor of providing Ukraine with defensive …

  • Muzhenko: Ukraine could lose 12,000 soldiers in 10 days in Donbas power struggle

    Chief of General Staff of Ukraine Viktor Muzhenko pointed out that the Armed Forces are ready for a forceful resolution of the Donbas issue, if the matter is considered in terms of weaponry and control systems. According to preliminary estimates, ten days of an operation using aircraft could result in the loss of 10-12,000 soldiers, 3,000 of whom will be killed. He explained this to reporters on Thursday, Ukrayinska Pravda reports.

    However, Muzhenko doubts that the Ukrainian society is ready …

  • Ukraine: meetings of US representative for Ukraine Volker and Putin’s aide Surkov are an addition to Normandy talks

    The meeting of the Special Representative of the US State Department Kurt Volker, and a personal advisor to the Russian President, Vladislav Surkov, is an additional platform for negotiations, which complements the Minsk and Normandy formats, the Political Director of the Directorate General for Policy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Oleksii Makeiev said, as reported by Radio Liberty. According to him, the Ukrainians were informed in advance about the details of this planned …

  • Ukraine asks Poland to stop buying coal from LPR separatists

    Poland must stop buying coal from the occupied Donbas, said Ukrainian Minister of Energy and Coal Industry Ihor Nasalyk.

    “This is not at all partnership-like, and we hope that the Polish government will react to this situation,” Nasalyk said on Wednesday during a meeting with a Polish business in Warsaw, Ukrinform reports.

    According to the minister, the origin of the coal can easily be tested with chemical indicators. Nasalyk reiterated that Ukraine does not use anthracite coal from the …

  • Ukrainian Parliament publishes draft bill on integration of Donbas

    The main highlights of the new Presidential bill on the Donbas were published on the web site of the Verkhovna Rada.

    The purpose of the Bill is stated to be “the liberation of the territory of the Donbas”.

    The word "aggression" and its derivatives occur 42 times in the text of the Bill. At the same time, the Bill does not call Russia an "aggressor country." Nevertheless, the authors directly declare that it is the Russian Federation that has been carrying out armed aggression on the territory …

  • Russian soldiers captured by ISIS in Syria previously fought in eastern Ukraine

    One of the Russian soldiers who were captured in Syria by ISIS terrorists fought previously in the Donbas in the ranks of the LPR (Luhansk People’s Republic), and another is connected to the so-called “Domodedovo” military brotherhood, as reported by Russian blogger Anatoly Nesmiyan (El Murid) in his LiveJournal.

    As evidence, he released a photo which may shed light on Roman Zabolotny’s connection to the LPR, and Gregory Tsurkanov’s connection to the Domodedovo military brotherhood.

    Nesmiyan …